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How Thailand will use new 'Talent Visa' to boost its tech eco system


Jonathan Fairfield

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...and the requirements to achieve such visa is: bring a lot of money and be prepared to lose it, walk on water in front of your devoted sleeping, texting and constantly eating colleagues, teach them all the skills necessary for the job, and get the %$#@* out of here? 

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32 minutes ago, Lupatria said:

...and the requirements to achieve such visa is: bring a lot of money and be prepared to lose it, walk on water in front of your devoted sleeping, texting and constantly eating colleagues, teach them all the skills necessary for the job, and get the %$#@* out of here? 

I have seen that firsthand in the Philippines. Drama.

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Just now, jossthaifarang said:

Always the pessimists on TV..  Have any of you stopped to consider the fact that maybe they have realised they need help, and are finally putting their pride in their pocket? 

Yes I did consider that but then I woke up

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If they want to attract Educated, Experienced and Knowledgeable people then there will have to be a far more open approach than the one they think they can get away with at present. The idea of a visa with a silly name is certainly not going to cut it. Anyone wanting to work in Thailand who has knowledge to pass on is not going to accept the pittance of a salary that is so often on offer.

Additionally, people will want to know they are not going to have to set up a business and employ a minimum of useless people. The education system must provide a minimum base level of knowledge. A good number of Thai's do have the capability but I have seen so called qualified Architects who couldn't design a bird cage let alone a piece of infrastructure.

In short if Thailand wants to attract the best people from overseas it will have to make it worth while for them to come to Thailand and currently that just isn't the case.

Edited by gandalf12
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Programmers for robots are wanted all over the world, why would they come to Thailand where almost nobody speaks english?

 

Without the help of the West technology in Thailand will not improve and they are already far behind. 

 

And what can engineers do in the Siam area?? It's already overloaded there, engineers need space and an inspiring surrounding. There's nothing at all for technical people in whole Siam. The closest mall for them is Phantip but what's going on inthere is also a big question.

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1 hour ago, jossthaifarang said:

Always the pessimists on TV..  Have any of you stopped to consider the fact that maybe they have realised they need help, and are finally putting their pride in their pocket? 

Nope just getting the pride from someone else's pocket.

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9 hours ago, thhMan said:

I spent more time teaching and double checking staff work than doing my own job

When the time was right, management removed me and put the person I trained (Thai) to take my position

Never again... 

Been there, done that also. I was teaching them how to rebuild the engines on some 30 year old Air Farce trucks.

 

They had all the torque spec's laid out, laminated, in front of them in Pathum Thani.

 

I had to go see the Marines for 2 - 3 days in Sattahip (saltwater in their diesel).

 

Got back to BKK & there's a bent piston rod & ruined engine head & a bunch of blank looks.

 

Never again.

Edited by jaywalker
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When I first moved to the Kingdom many years ago I attempted to continue the online animation company I'd set up. I hired and trained up a very capable animator, paying them 30,000 Baht a month - and they were worth every Baht, an excellent learner and hard worker. 


It was not a 'big bucks' business in a period of growth, and so after the first year there simply wasn't any good reason to hugely increase my monthly outgoings by taking on another three employees, as per government regulations for renewing my work permit. The company was functioning fine as it was, it simply wasn't the right time to be taking on new staff. Nevermind the fact I was paying my one employee the equivalent of four unskilled salaries anyway! 

 

Result: I was unable to renew my work permit - after which I had no choice but to vacate my rented office and let my animator go.

 

Pointless regulations: 1

Thai high tech industry: 0

 

I believe my story highlights the need for easier ways to do business here. However, I don't think the answer lies with setting up special 'zones' and throwing money at startups. I think the real problem is the INSANE amounts of blindly followed, pointless red tape and bureaucracy coupled with deeply entrenched protectionism and a general suspicion of foreigners. These are the real reasons that companies serious about opening modern, small and nimble high tech businesses are looking elsewhere - and until these barriers to entry are removed any growth in the Thai high tech sector will continue be stifled.

 

There was one nice thing that came out of the whole debacle though; I gave my animator the legally required redundancy pay which they then used to finance a course in advanced character animation in Canada where they now reside full time working for one of the top animation studios.

The great shame is that the Kingdom lost both a high tech, tax paying company and one of it's hard working, talented citizens as a direct result of the ill-conceived, inefficient and pointless bureaucracy that continues to plague foreign small businesses trying to operate in the Kingdom.

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When I first moved to the Kingdom many years ago I attempted to continue the online animation company I'd set up. I hired and trained up a very capable animator, paying them 30,000 Baht a month - and they were worth every Baht, an excellent learner and hard worker. 

It was not a 'big bucks' business in a period of growth, and so after the first year there simply wasn't any good reason to hugely increase my monthly outgoings by taking on another three employees, as per government regulations for renewing my work permit. The company was functioning fine as it was, it simply wasn't the right time to be taking on new staff. Nevermind the fact I was paying my one employee the equivalent of four unskilled salaries anyway! 
 
Result: I was unable to renew my work permit - after which I had no choice but to vacate my rented office and let my animator go.
 
Pointless regulations: 1
Thai high tech industry: 0
 
I believe my story highlights the need for easier ways to do business here. However, I don't think the answer lies with setting up special 'zones' and throwing money at startups. I think the real problem is the INSANE amounts of blindly followed, pointless red tape and bureaucracy coupled with deeply entrenched protectionism and a general suspicion of foreigners. These are the real reasons that companies serious about opening modern, small and nimble high tech businesses are looking elsewhere - and until these barriers to entry are removed any growth in the Thai high tech sector will continue be stifled.
 
There was one nice thing that came out of the whole debacle though; I gave my animator the legally required redundancy pay which they then used to finance a course in advanced character animation in Canada where they now reside full time working for one of the top animation studios.
The great shame is that the Kingdom lost both a high tech, tax paying company and one of it's hard working, talented citizens as a direct result of the ill-conceived, inefficient and pointless bureaucracy that continues to plague foreign small businesses trying to operate in the Kingdom.

Lesson learned..!!!!

Sent from my BLL-L22 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

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